In spite of Argentina and 'Messi'... Egyptian artists announce their support for England

With a photo from a scene where she embodied a simple folk woman character, Egyptian actress Nelly Karim appeared to her followers on her official Facebook account, but the shot carried a simple detail, apparently edited with Photoshop, but enough to make the audience laugh, as the Egyptian child she was hugging in the drama was replaced with another with European features and wearing an England national team shirt, with the phrase: 'The hope is in you.'

Nelly Karim's stance is part of a widespread Egyptian popular trend that has declared support for the England national team in its upcoming match against its Argentine counterpart in the semi-finals of the World Cup currently held in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, in a striking and surprising shift, as Egyptians have historically tended to favor the 'tango dancers' over the 'Three Lions', but their feeling of being subjected to 'refereeing injustice' in their country's match against Argentina made them support the English in spite of Argentina.

And football legend Lionel Messi turned from a 'darling of the masses' among a wide sector of Egyptians into a player who 'accepts injustice and does not want fair play' in the popular sentiment of many who felt he exerted a kind of 'pressure' on the referee of the 'Pharaohs' and 'Tango' match, the Frenchman Francois Letexier, which resulted in not awarding a 'clear penalty' for Mohamed Salah and disallowing a 'valid goal' for Mustafa Ziko, according to several sports analyses.

And a number of artists followed the same approach in confirming their support for England and its desire to win, or support for Argentina considering they are used to whoever they support being eliminated from the tournament in what resembles a 'bad luck syndrome'; among these are Nisreen Amin and Mustafa Gharib.

Mustafa Gharib and a post through which he aspires for Argentina's loss (Facebook)

And art critic Tarek El-Shennawy considered the interaction of art stars with sports and its hot events 'a type of intuitive and understandable behavior, considering they are an integral part of the societal fabric and their voice is heard, and they have also found in social media a direct medium to express their emotions and convey them directly to the audience.'

He added to Asharq Al-Awsat that 'there are other events and issues of a political, economic, or even scientific nature that the artist may not find himself knowledgeable about or able to take a clear stance on, negatively or positively, unlike football which creates a state of public passion that brings together the artist and the citizen in a single psychological moment charged with emotions.'

For his part, young comedian Mustafa Gharib chose a sarcastic style to express his support for the English national team, as he appeared in a photo wearing an Argentina shirt with a caption saying: 'Every time I support a team, it gets eliminated'; in reference to his desire to bid farewell to the 'Tango' from the tournament after being struck by the 'jinx of bad luck'.

Nisreen Amin is among the actresses who hope for England to beat Argentina (Facebook)

He also published another photo edited with Photoshop in which he scolds Messi for remaining in the tournament so far, despite that 'the poor and the rich have left it.'

And actress Nisreen Amin resorted to a video clip in which she appears in a scene with actor Ahmed El-Sakka from their famous series 'Al-Atawla', Part Two, where a reference to Messi's name and the Argentine flag were placed on El-Sakka, whom she was threatening with severe revenge and intimidation, but in a sarcastic emotional manner.

And sports commentator Mahmoud Sabry considered that 'Egypt's participation this time in the World Cup was distinguished by things happening for the first time, which made the interaction of public figures and celebrities with that strength that we all witnessed, as we achieved victory for the first time in our history and were a strong opponent for Belgium, and we saw how the national team played with strength and remarkable masculine performance.'

He added to Asharq Al-Awsat that 'what increased the heat of public opinion interaction, especially artists, is that bitter feeling of being subjected to a gross refereeing injustice witnessed by far and near in a historic fall of the French referee who officiated our match against Argentina.'